My school life took a turn for the better in September 1963, when Michael Russell, a young, vibrant Tipperary man, became Principal of my school, Scoil Mhuire, in Glenroe. I was now in the Senior classroom in Fifth Class, and suddenly all had changed, changed utterly. The Master, as he was called, was newly qualified and brought the results of his training and education to his classroom. He quickly set about remedying the lack of resources, and within a short time we were reading from a new school library that had been installed; fellow classmate Margaret McSweeney and I were appointed joint School Librarians! My first over-ambitious foray into reading saw me borrow beautiful new books such as Old Celtic Romances by P.W. Joyce, a former teacher and Principal in the old national school in Glenroe, and my second choice was the classic, Ben Hur!  We were also busy doing projects, and I treasured one that I did on Spain!

Mr Russell was a breath of fresh air inside and outside the classroom, and hurling was no longer the only form of warfare allowed in the tiny school field. We were also playing Gaelic football, soccer, and athletics. Glenroe had a strong athletic tradition, and the Annual Sports Meeting was a fixture on the national athletic calendar. I won some sprint races at the local Sports Day, and one evening after school Mr Russell presented me with a well-worn pair of spikes, running shoes, which I treasured, although I found it nearly impossible to wear them because of their age!

I have vivid memories of the 22nd of November, 1963, the day that our great hero John Fitzgerald Kennedy, 35th President of the United States, was assassinated in Dallas, Texas. My brother Michael and I, along with our neighbour and friend Andy Tobin, were sitting in Jack Connell’s kitchen watching his black-and-white television. An American TV sitcom called The Thin Man was on at the time. Coincidentally, it starred Peter Lawford, who was married to one of JFK’s sisters. Anyway, the programme was suddenly interrupted by a newsflash read by Charles Mitchell, a legendary newsreader at the fledgling RTE television station. We were shocked by the news that the President of the United States had been assassinated, and we immediately ran home the short distance to break the sad news to our parents and siblings.

Shortly afterwards, at school, Mr Russell asked our class to write an essay about the event. I made a huge effort to write a good essay, and I also wanted to impress my teacher with my vocabulary and my knowledge of Kennedy and his family because he had been in Ireland the previous year. He had also visited Limerick and had addressed the Dáil. The essays were duly returned to us, and Mr Russell smiled and chuckled as he handed me back my effort. He pointed out to me that I had written that ‘all of Ireland had cried crocodile tears on hearing of the death of President Kennedy’! He gently and tactfully explained that this was surely not what I meant to say!

From long experience, I know that our political leaders don’t respect our teachers or accept them as the true experts that they are. We all pay lip service to the fact that teachers are professionals, but today they aren’t treated like professionals.  This is why succeeding governments don’t respond appropriately to teachers’ genuine pleas for help.

Respecting and listening to teachers is vital for our children to thrive because, outside of the home, they are the single biggest influence on their  education. Research has shown, again and again, that the teacher in his/her classroom has the greatest influence on learning outcomes. So, how we make our teachers feel directly impacts our children. A child can have a uniform or not, be in a single-sex environment or not, work on an iPad or not; they could be sitting wearing a tutu or a toga, sitting on a beanbag or a wooden stool, but they can get an excellent education if they have a teacher who is trained, supported, respected and treated like the professional that they are.

Teachers and principals are telling us that children need more support. They are saying that they, in turn, need more support. If the government wants the best outcomes for all students, if they want the best value for the money they invest each year, then they need to respect teachers and listen to what they care about most when they discuss their students. We need to make equity and equality in education serious priorities, alongside health and housing.

Since I was a young teacher, I have always marvelled at how many teachers made a seamless transfer into the political sphere. My generation saw Gerry Collins, Enda Kenny, Michael Noonan, and many others abandon the classroom for cosier, safe seats in Leinster House.  At the time, salaries were very similar, believe it or not, which made the transition feasible.  Today, our TDs’ combined salaries and expenses are multiples of a teacher’s salary. Go figure!

Recently, in the United States, much has been made of the fact that Tim Walz, Kamala Harris’s avuncular running mate, was once a high school teacher. The internet is overloaded with numerous articles from his former students lauding his passionate teaching style. Apparently, that matters to American voters. Teachers are poorly treated and paid abysmally in the States, too, yet being a teacher is somehow a badge of honour in their political campaigns. The irony and the dissonance are mind-blowing. It’s enough to make any teacher feel disheartened.

In the end, one good teacher’s influence for good can last a lifetime. Such a teacher does far more than impart knowledge: they awaken curiosity, build confidence, recognise possibility and help a child imagine a larger future. Their encouragement may come in a quiet word, a well-chosen book, or a pair of well-worn running shoes, yet its effects can endure long after the classroom is left behind. Michael Russell was that teacher for me, and his example reminds us that when we value and support good teachers, we are investing not only in individual children but in the character and future of society itself.